http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/vlfishlock
I graduated in 2003 with first class Zoology Honours from the University of Edinburgh. After graduation, I worked as a research assistant at Chester Zoo on behavioural and hormonal indicators of welfare in captive orang-utans. I then worked for a year at the Mbeli Bai study in Republic of Congo, studying Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and other large mammals.I developed my PhD project based on my experiences in the Congo, and my fieldwork is supported by a studentship from the Leverhulme Trust.
My research focuses on questions concerning social behaviour and demography of forest elephants in northern Republic of Congo, in Odzala-Kokoua National Park. Forest elephants are poorly known in comparison with their savannah counterparts, due the difficulties and dangers of observing them in their dense rainforest habitat. Ivory poaching poses a very real and increasing threat to the persistence of forest elephant populations, as human resource exploitation pushes ever further into remote and previously inaccesible areas of rainforest. Odzala-Kokoua is one of the last blocks of wilderness in Africa, and represents a true stronghold for forest elephants; the Park covers 13,546km2 and is estimated to contain between 11,000 and 18,000 elephants, by far the largest population in the region.Large forest clearings (called bais by local BaAka people) give excellent visual access to elephants, who use and maintain these openings in the forest, potentially for mineral access and as social arenas. Unfortunately, this access is afforded to both conservationists and poachers. By establishing a permanent research presence, my study will assist in securing the Park against poaching activity, and will assess the visiting population's health and demographic status, as well as documenting elephant response to risk. Working with local government and employing local trackers, the project also fits into an overall regional strategy for Central African elephant management and conservation. My research focuses on three principal questions;
what do bais mean to elephants? Who uses them, when and how? Do they constitute social resources? how can we use observational data from bais to infer something about the organisation of forest elephants' social structure? how do we ensure an adequate conservation status is initiated, developed and maintained for the study population?
Article
Human-driven habitat conversion is a more immediate threat to Amboseli elephants than climate change
Boult VL, Fishlock V, Quaife T, Hawkins E, Moss C, Lee PC & Sibly RM (2019) Human-driven habitat conversion is a more immediate threat to Amboseli elephants than climate change. Conservation Science and Practice, 1 (9), Art. No.: e87. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.87
Article
Boult VL, Sibly RM, Quaife T, Fishlock V, Moss C & Lee PC (2019) Modelling large herbivore movement decisions: Beyond food availability as a predictor of ranging patterns. African Journal of Ecology, 57 (1), pp. 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12553
Article
Boult VL, Quaife T, Fishlock V, Moss CJ, Lee PC & Sibly RM (2018) Individual-based modelling of elephant population dynamics using remote sensing to estimate food availability. Ecological Modelling, 387, pp. 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.09.010
Article
The consequences of poaching and anthropogenic change for forest elephants
Breuer T, Maisels F & Fishlock V (2016) The consequences of poaching and anthropogenic change for forest elephants. Conservation Biology, 30 (5), pp. 1019-1026. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12679
Article
Lee PC, Fishlock V, Webber CE & Moss CJ (2016) The reproductive advantages of a long life: longevity and senescence in wild female African elephants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70 (3), pp. 337-345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-2051-5
Article
Elephant resource-use traditions
Fishlock V, Caldwell CA & Lee PC (2016) Elephant resource-use traditions. Animal Cognition, 19 (2), pp. 429-433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-015-0921-x
Book Chapter
Protecting Bais and Elephants: law enforcement and anti-poaching
Breuer T, Bout N, Fishlock V & Maisels F (2015) Protecting Bais and Elephants: law enforcement and anti-poaching. In: Fishlock V & Breuer T (eds.) Studying Forest Elephants. Stuttgart, Germany: Neuer Sportverlag, pp. 73-83. https://www.reaev.de/cms/shop/1/en/books.asp?lang=en
Book Chapter
Equipment and the Golden Rules of Data Management
Fishlock V, Wrege P, Turkalo A & Maisels F (2015) Equipment and the Golden Rules of Data Management. In: Fishlock V & Breuer T (eds.) Studying Forest Elephants. Stuttgart, Germany: Neuer Sportverlag, pp. 174-179. https://www.reaev.de/cms/shop/1/en/books.asp?lang=
Book Chapter
Detecting Threats and Measuring Change at Bais: A Monitoring Framework
Maisels F, Fishlock V, Greenway K, Wittemyer G & Breuer T (2015) Detecting Threats and Measuring Change at Bais: A Monitoring Framework. In: Fishlock V & Breuer T (eds.) Studying Forest Elephants. Stuttgart, Germany: Neuer Sportverlag, pp. 144-155. https://www.reaev.de/cms/shop/1/en/books.asp?lang=en
Article
Forest elephants: fission-fusion and social arenas
Fishlock V & Lee PC (2013) Forest elephants: fission-fusion and social arenas. Animal Behaviour, 85 (2), pp. 357-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.11.004
Article
Quantifying forest elephant social structure in Central African bai environments
Fishlock V, Lee PC & Breuer T (2008) Quantifying forest elephant social structure in Central African bai environments. Pachyderm, 44, pp. 19-28. http://www.pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachy/article/view/29
Article
First observation of tool use in wild gorillas
Breuer T, Ndoundou-Hockemba M & Fishlock V (2005) First observation of tool use in wild gorillas. PLoS Biology, 3 (11), pp. 2041-2043, Art. No.: e380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030380